Line Editing Facility

Line editing is normally available to edit command lines prior to submission. The following control keys can be used

  <^A>            Move to beginning of line 
  <^B>            Backspace one character (BACKWARD)
  <^F>            Advance one character (FORWARD)
  <^H>            Delete previous character (BACKSPACE)
  <^J>            Delete to beginning of word, or previous word
  <^M>            Submit command line (RETURN key)
  <^N>            Recover Next command
  <^P>            Recover Previous command
  <^U>            Delete to beginning of line
  <DEL>           Delete previous character

These commands are identical to the standard line editing in the Emacs editor.

If you are using an ANSII compatible terminal (VT100 series and upwards), the numeric keypad is also available to perform additional actions

  <PF4>           Delete to end of line
  <->             Delete to end of word, or next word
  <LF>            Delete to beginning of word, or previous word
  <,>             Delete character
  <DEL>           Delete previous character
  <1>             Move to next word
  <2>             Move to end of line
  <4>             Set advance mode (for WORD moves)
  <5>             Set backup mode (for WORD moves)
  <ENTER>         Submit the command line
  <RETURN>        Same as above
  <Up Arrow>      Retrieve previous command of Stack
  <Down Arrow>    Retrieve next command of Stack
  <Left Arrow>    Backward one character
  <Right Arrow>   Advance one character

These commands are the same as in the EDT Digital text editor, except for Backspace (H).

For lines longer than the screen width, the display uses a window and automatically centers it on the current character when the cursor position reaches one end.

Note that on VMS operating systems, this editing mode somehow conflicts with the basic DEC line editing facility, in the sense that the DEC editing facility has priority over it. To access to the keypad editing mode you should press the GOLD (<PF1>) key. Otherwise, the Up and Down arrows will only allow you to retrieve the last typed line (default DEC line editing).

The keypad editing mode can be turned off by the SIC EDIT OFF command and turned on by the SIC EDIT ON command. Line editing mode affects the error recovery system and the RECALL command.